Youth Suicide Prevention Program Now Available at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in the Bronx
Youth who come to the hospital following a suicide attempt or serious suicidal behavior will receive immediate crisis support and follow-up for up to 90 days after they leave the hospital The Caring Transitions program launched last year in partnership with the NYC Health Department at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst and Queens and expanded earlier this year to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln
Jul 15, 2025
New York, NY — NYC Health + Hospitals and the NYC Health Department today announced that Caring Transitions, a suicide prevention and intervention program for youth, is now available at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in the Bronx. The $2.4 million program serves high-risk youth, ages 5-17, who come to the hospital following a suicide attempt or serious suicidal behavior, and it offers comprehensive wraparound support and services for up to 90 days after they leave the hospital. The first-of-its-kind program launched last year at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst and Queens, expanded earlier this year to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, and is slated to expand to NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx later this year. Since the first site launched last summer, Caring Transitions has enrolled over 80 patients and completed over 800 encounters with those youth and their caregivers.
Youth and families who enroll in the program receive a robust array of services tailored to youth with the highest risk of suicide, including peer support from other young people with lived experience of navigating the mental health system, youth support groups, and support for family members; regular sessions with a social worker to develop a safety plan and coping strategies; and assistance with navigating the systems of care, including ongoing treatment after the program ends and community-based resources. The Caring Transitions program helps youth and caregivers with identifying risk factors and warning signs, such as previous suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, persistent sadness, social isolation, self-harm, trauma and substance abuse, as these are crucial for suicide prevention. The multidisciplinary teams are composed of a medical director, youth peer and family advocates, social workers, and transition coordinators. Care is available regardless of the patient’s health insurance status, ability to pay, or immigration status.
“Youth mental health is at a crisis point in New York City and across the country,” said NYC Health + Hospitals System Chief of Behavioral Health Services Omar Fattal, MD, MPH.“Youth suicide deaths and attempts can have a profound impact on families, friends, and communities. This is why we are expanding Caring Transitions to the Bronx to ensure more communities have access to this impactful initiative. By providing wraparound support to high-risk children and adolescents within 24 hours of a referral from our Emergency Department or inpatient units, and continuing to provide support during the critical post-discharge window, we are proud to fill a gap in services that did not exist prior to this program going online.”
“Our young people are our most precious resource, and we need to look out for all aspects of their health, especially their mental health. Suicide is as tragic as it is avoidable and with the tools offered by Caring Transitions, we’ll be able to save lives right here in the Bronx,” said Christopher Mastromano, Chief Executive Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi | North Central Bronx.
“Ensuring our young people and their loved ones have access to high quality, comprehensive support following a youth’s suicide attempt plays an important role in their recovery,” said Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse. “Caring Transitions helps families navigate the mental health system and keep young people and the families engaged in a network of support and create a pathway to a healthy future. The NYC Health Department is thrilled to be expanding this program to NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in the Bronx following successful launches of at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, Queens, and Lincoln.”
“Holistic intervention programs like Caring Transitions, providing immediate support and sustained follow-up, are precisely the wraparound services the city seeks to expand, as the heartbreaking loss of young lives continues to devastate so many families,” said Eva Wong, Executive Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health. “The Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health applauds NYC Health + Hospitals for this key addition to the city’s youth mental health program offerings and remains a proud partner in critical suicide prevention work in NYC.”
Every youth suicide is one too many, and for every young person who dies by suicide, there are many more who seriously consider or attempt suicide. According to the NYC Health Department, the percentage of NYC public high school students who reported seriously considering suicide in the past 12 months has increased over the last 10 years, from 12% in 2011 to 16% in 2021. In 2021, NYC public high school students who reported seriously considering suicide in the past 12 months were more likely to be girls (21%) than boys (10%) and more likely to be Latino (17%) than white (9%).
Today’s announcement builds on the many programs the city offers to address youth mental health:
- In March 2025, NYC Health + Hospitals and the Health Department celebrated the opening of 16 new School-Based Mental Health Clinics, offering on-site clinical treatment directly in school buildings, making mental health services more accessible to children and adolescents.
- The Mental Health Continuum Program established an expedited referral pathway to child outpatient clinics at three acute care hospitals and two NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health facilities. This initiative connects students from 50 New York City public schools to timely mental health care and has served nearly 170 students since its launch in 2023 through December 2024.
- For children experiencing acute mental health crises, NYC Health + Hospitals has expanded its Child Emergency Department Telepsychiatry Consults service to three facilities, ensuring that children in distress receive timely psychiatric evaluations and interventions.
- The NYC Health Department contracts for children’s mobile crisis teams, connecting families to behavioral health professionals and Family Peer Advocates to provide assessment, crisis intervention and de-escalation, advocacy, and referrals to various services.
- The NYC Health Department contracts for Home-Based Crisis Intervention programs, which provide intensive in-home crisis care to children between 5 and 21 years old. Services are typically provided over four to six weeks and are an alternative to hospitalization for children and adolescents experiencing severe emotional distress.
- To provide specialized outpatient care for youth with high-risk behaviors, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue launched a Child/Adolescent Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) outpatient program. This evidence-based treatment model supports children and adolescents struggling with suicidal thoughts, self-harm, substance use, and interpersonal challenges.
- To improve crisis response across the system, NYC Health + Hospitals and the Health Department have integrated Child Crisis Intervention Specialists in all 11 hospitals. These specialists assist in assessing children and adolescents presenting in crisis to Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Programs (CPEPs), Emergency Departments, and outpatient care settings. In 2024, NYC Health + Hospitals standardized and expanded the Child Crisis Intervention Specialists program with State funding, ensuring stronger connections to outpatient services for children in need.
NYC Health + Hospitals serves approximately 8,000 children and adolescents each year through inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services at its acute care facilities, community mental health clinics, and innovative mental health programs in schools and in the community. NYC Health + Hospitals continues to enhance its mental health services for children and adolescents, addressing critical gaps in crisis intervention, outpatient care, and school-based support.
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest provider of behavioral health in New York City. The system provides almost 60% of behavioral health services citywide serving over 78,000 patients annually across emergency, inpatient and outpatient care.
###
MEDIA CONTACT: PressOffice@nychhc.org
#116-25
About NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi
NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi is a 457-bed teaching hospital affiliated with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The facility has earned numerous Center of Excellence designations, accreditation, and recognition for its renowned Level 1 Trauma Center, Burn Center, Surgical Intensive Care Unit, regional Stroke Center, Snakebite Treatment Center, Breast Health Center, Bariatric Surgery Center, and Cancer Service. The facility also offers the region’s only multi-person hyperbaric chamber, allowing up to nine patients to dive together at one time. Jacobi’s Ambulatory Care Pavilion is a stunning complement to its inpatient acute care, allowing staff to provide patients with high-quality service in a modern, state-of-the-art environment. For more information visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org/locations/jacobi/.
About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
